Head of Reading Academy, Michael Gilkes, has confirmed that the club have applied for Category One status, just months after the demotion to Category Two.

Previously a top-tier Academy for it's entire existence, the club had been demoted ahead of the current campaign, with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the impact of moving training ground cited as issues at the last audit.

As a result, Noel Hunt's Under-21 side were removed from Premier League 2 and placed in the Professional Developement League, where they are currently sitting just outside the play-off places.

A club legend with over 500 appearances to his name, Gilkes returned to his role with the Academy over the summer after a stint with Paul Ince and the first team during the final stages of last season.

Reading Chronicle:

Now looking ahead to the future, the former Barbados international confirmed that the club have already put steps in place to return to the top table of youth systems.

"We have been in a fortunate position where the club have completely backed the Academy, 100 per cent, he started. "We are running to a Category One standard, with Category One staffing, because we are reapplying to go back to Category One straight away, With Category Two, the standards are slightly different and how you operate and facilities, so it’s quite clear that the club have shown exactly where we are.

"If there were more cuts made you would think, how do you get back, whereas we have reapplied already and are in a good position where we operate already like that. For a lot of our players, if not all of them, it makes them realise we have it really good here. That needs to push them on.

"They [EFL] will make sure that all the boxes are ticked and we’re going in the right direction before we then get audited. So, we get our stuff in place, the EFL come in and check and we will get audited as a Category Two club, but we’re running as a Category One club. We have near enough ticked all the boxes already, they’re not going to tell us to improve the facilities or say we have to improve staffing, because we’ve got more staff than any other Category Two. We’re taking it very seriously, but it’s something we’re prepared for, and we will be ready.

"It goes by seasons, so we can’t go back in the middle of the season. We will get audited between January and March, and they’ll let us know after that. Then you prepare for the season as a Category One or Category Two club."